Bernard Fitzsimons

Ameco Beijing–Air China and Lufthansa formed Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Corp. (Ameco Beijing) as a 60:40 joint venture in 1989. Its facilities at Beijing Capital International Airport include a four-bay hangar covering 334,000 sq ft, a 108,000-sq-ft paint hangar, 66,000 sq ft of component workshops and an engine repair and overhaul workshop and engine test cell covering another 280,000 sq ft. In August 2004 the partners agreed to extend the joint venture for another 25 years, and to invest $100 million in expanding its facilities over the subsequent four years. A new 538,000-sq-ft hangar capable of accommodating two Airbus A380s, two Boeing 747-400s and two 777-300ERs simultaneously is scheduled for completion by October 2007.

Ameco is China’s biggest MRO provider and has nearly 4,000 employees. It maintains almost all modern Boeing and Airbus aircraft, though it focuses on Boeing types when it comes to heavy maintenance, and overhauls Rolls-Royce, Pratt &amp; Whitney and CFM International engines. Repair and overhaul services extend to nearly 10,000 components, including landing gear, wheels and brakes, hydraulics, pneumatics, mechanics, avionics and electrics.

Last August Ameco Beijing signed a five-year contract with United Airlines covering heavy maintenance on the U.S. carrier’s Boeing 777s. Work on the first of 80 aircraft to be overhauled during the contract period started in October. In November the facility started its first D-check on a Lufthansa Boeing 747-400, with installation of the airline’s Flynet (also known as Connexion by Boeing) wireless Internet system to be carried out in parallel. Ameco had previously carried out D-checks on nine Lufthansa Cargo 747-400s, including the industry’s first 5D check.

Lufthansa Technik Shenzhen–Established in 2000 at Baoan Airport, China’s fourth largest, Lufthansa Technik Shenzhen repairs airframe-related components such as radomes, nose cowls and thrust reversers for Chinese and other Asian customers. In October 2003, the same month that it won EASA Part 145 maintenance organization certification, it completed the installation of an autoclave, making the complete servicing of composite parts possible for the first time in China.

A joint venture with two Chinese partners, Shenzhen Investment Holding Corp. (10 percent) and the Beijing Kailan Aviation Technology Co. (20 percent), the company focused initially on components for the thrust reversers of the Boeing 737’s CFM56-3. Last year, in response to customer demand, it added the ability to service components for the thrust reversers of the CF6-80 that powers the Boeing 747, A300 and MD-11 and the inlet cowls of the V2500 installed on Airbus A320-family aircraft.

Lufthansa Technik Philippines–Formed as a joint venture with 49-percent stakeholder MacroAsia Corp. in September 2000, Lufthansa Technik Philippines took over the former Philippine Airlines MRO operation at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport, where its four-bay hangar and workshops cover nearly 1.2 million sq ft. As well as maintaining the PAL fleet, the facility acts as Lufthansa Technik’s global overhaul center for the Airbus A330 and A340.

After adding a second production line for the Airbus widebodies in 2004, the Manila facility developed the capability and won European and U.S. regulatory approval to carry out heavy maintenance on single-aisle Airbus aircraft as well. Work on the first Airbus narrowbody to be overhauled, a Lufthansa A320-200, started last October.

Airfoil Services–Kuala Lumpur-based Airfoil Services is a 50:50 joint venture between Lufthansa Technik and fellow German company MTU Aero Engines. It repairs low pressure turbine blades from CF6-50, CF6-80, CFM56-3 and CFM56-5 and V2500 engines, plus V2500 compressor blades.

In October LHT announced plans to build a new shop that will roughly quadruple its production capacity. The result is expected to see the business increase from its current level of $5 million in sales and 130 employees to $20 million in sales and a workforce of 500. The state-run ADTEC Melaka Advanced Technology Training Centre is helping with training of new staff.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Lufthansa Technik’s Asia/Pacific Affiliates

Ameco Beijing–Air China and Lufthansa formed Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Corp.

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